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Border Wall: Senator takes apart 'manufactured crisis' narrative sold by media and Democrats

Trump border meeting
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) slammed Democrats during President Donald Trump's visit to the border on Thursday, calling out their false claims that what is going on at the border is somehow a "manufactured crisis."

"Before you, you see heroin and methamphetamine that's been seized, you see bulk cash $362,000," Cornyn said. "When the drugs are sold in the United States they have to get the cash back across the border through the cartels."

"And you see the sorts of weapons that are used by the drug cartels and others and you can imagine the violence that goes along with that," Cornyn continued. "And so, when people like Ted and I hear our colleagues in Washington say this is a manufactured crisis, we kind of wonder what planet they've been living on because this is not just about economic migrants, this about people that exploit the vulnerabilities in our border, this is about the 70,000 people who died of drug overdoses in America just last year."


Comment: As if to confirm Coryn's assertions, we see this recent story: 21 bodies found on US-Mexico border after a drug-gang shootout, Trump was to visit nearby town


Comment: See also:


Evil Rays

Russian watchdog says BBC programming may violate Russia's anti-extremism laws

BBC sign
© Reuters/Toby Melville
Some BBC online reports may violate a Russian law which bans spreading the ideologies of terrorist organizations, the country's media watchdog found in a probe launched in response to the British regulator's ruling against RT.

The content in question contained the quotes of Al-Baghdadi, the head of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), according to the statement from Roskomnadzor. The broadcaster's websites, including the BBC Russian Service, are under investigation.

"The probe is underway to check if these materials violate Russian anti-extremism law," the statement said. The watchdog is also monitoring programs from BBC World News in Russia.

Comment:


Cross

Duterte urges Vatican to allow its 'useless' priests to have boyfriends

Duterte
© AFP
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
The Catholic Church must embrace homosexual kinship among the clergy, Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte has said in his latest attack on the Vatican... just after calling on the population to rob and even kill "useless" bishops.

Duterte, who has in the past openly revealed that he was sexually molested by a priest, once again criticized the Catholic Church on Thursday, this time for allegedly suppressing the widespread homosexual tendencies of its clergymen - and dared the "sons of b****es" in the Vatican to abolish celibacy. "Most of them are gay... They should come out in the open, cancel celibacy and allow them to have boyfriends."

The Holy See had functioned just fine for over one thousand years before the Church adopted a policy of clerical celibacy at the Second Lateran Council in 1139. Duterte is an open supporter of same-sex unions who has even acknowledged fiddling with the notion of becoming a bisexual. He has repeatedly called on the Church to abolish the centuries-old canon law, suggesting that it only fuels homosexual tendencies among clergymen. Last month, Duterte boldly estimated that "almost 90 percent" of Catholic priests were homosexuals.

Attention

Will the EU survive its many problems in 2019?

Translated by Ollie Richardson and Angelina Siard

EU Flag
© CC0, Pixabay
The European Union enters 2019 with a mass of unresolved problems, in addition to being torn apart by the most severe contradictions...

The first and main problem is that the EU was created as one of the mechanisms of the US' control over Western Europe. Without the American Marshall Plan, without opening American markets for European goods, without American troops on the European continent, without NATO, eventually, the European Union wouldn't be possible.

When it is said that the EU was conceived, among other things, as a way of removing German-French contradictions, for the purpose of preventing future conflicts that led to the First and Second World Wars, it is the truth. But it must be kept in mind that the German-French unity was necessary and favourable exclusively for the US. Great Britain, on the contrary, during all its history fought to split Europe and to prevent a situation where one state or a union of states could dominate on the continent.

The US was separated from Europe not by a strait, but by an ocean. In addition, they were much stronger than Great Britain was at the peak of its power. A strong and united Europe was needed by the US as an ally in the fight against the USSR. This approach ensured trade preferences and military protection for Europe. I.e., the US allowed the EU to earn money on their market, shared out bonuses from it neocolonial policy, and in addition it also bore the main weight of the armed protection of the EU, exempting Europe from a considerable part of military expenses. In exchange, Europe was becoming a theatre of military operations of the nuclear Armageddon being prepared, allowing the US to remain once again on the sidelines. At least, that's what Washington thought.

Comment: See also:


Handcuffs

Iran confirms detention of US citizen, denies allegations of abuse

Iran Tehran prison
© REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl
Prison guard stands along corridor in Tehran's prison
Iran has confirmed the July detention of US citizen and Navy veteran Michael White, but denies claims that the prisoner is being abused, describing the allegations as "psychological warfare."

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassem spoke out against allegations leveled by the New York Times on Monday, which said that the former Navy SEAL is being held in an Iranian prison under "suboptimal conditions."

CBS news joined in the media-dogpile the next day, upping the ante with claims that White "was suffering psychologically and was being held in a ward with dangerous criminals." Their source is former Iranian prisoner and 'cyber activist' Ivar Farhadi who first broke the news of the veteran's arrest on his Twitter account in October. Farhadi claims he met the American prisoner while "playing volleyball" in Vakilabad Prison which is in Mashhad, the city where White was arrested last summer. The circumstances which led to the arrest are not exactly clear, and no official charges have been leveled.

Health

German AfD MP Frank Magnitz recalls details of heinous 'politically motivated' attack

AfD party chairman Frank Magnitz
© YouTube / ntv Nachrichten
German police say the AfD party chairman in Bremen was knocked down with a "lightning-quick" blow in a suspected "politically motivated" attack that left Frank Magnitz unconscious and with a "bone-deep laceration" to his forehead.

The account of events surrounding the attack on the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Bremen on Monday night still remains murky, because the victim of the assault was left senseless in the ambush. Magnitz told RT that he has never seen his attackers, who crept up on him from behind just as he passed two construction workers after leaving a New Year's reception near Bremen's Goetheplatz.

"I was knocked unconscious," Magnitz said. When I came 'round I realized that I was lying in the street... Blood was running down my face.

Comment: Also see: ANOTHER attack against AfD: German MP brutally beaten in "politically-motivated attempted assassination"


No Entry

PM Viktor Orban: Hungary can be proud it was first country to prove migration can be stopped

Viktor Orban
© Mehaniq / shutterstock.com - MTI
Addressing an international press conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Hungary's goal is to have "anti-immigration forces" in the majority in every European Union institution.

Hungary wants to see an anti-immigration majority first in the European Parliament, then the European Commission and eventually, through member states' national elections, in the European Council as well, Orban said.

The prime minister said May's European parliamentary elections would be historic because Europeans would finally get to have their say on the issue of migration. Hungary so far has been the only member state where the people have been given the chance to express their views on migration, he said. Orban added that his Fidesz party's aim for the elections was "to be the most successful party" in Europe and in the European People's Party.

Bad Guys

The Gulf states have hatched a plan with Israel to rehabilitate Assad as a counterweight to Turkish ambition

Assad Billboard
© Agence France-Presse
A billboard in Damascus reads: "If the country's dust speaks, it will say Bashar al-Assad"
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen met Saudi, Emirati and Egyptian officials last month to discuss ways to counter Turkish regional influence, sources say

But an official with knowledge of the meeting said that the intelligence officials were told: "Trump had done what he could and was not going to do more."

The officials also agreed at the meeting that they considered Turkey, rather than Iran, to be their major military rival in the region, and discussed plans to counter Ankara's influence.

The Israelis told the meeting that Iran could be contained militarily, but that Turkey had a far greater capability. In the meeting Cohen is reported to have said: "Iranian power is fragile. The real threat comes from Turkey."

To tackle these issues, those present at the meeting agreed four measures.

Comment: Interesting that this bunch seems to think it can push Syria around like a pawn in their regional geopolitical games without taking Russia into account. Russia has been Syria's staunch friend throughout the crisis the West has plunged it into. Assad is not likely to act on all these 'friendly' overtures without consulting with Putin.


Star of David

Canadian government finally auditing Jewish National Fund over ties to Israeli military

New york protest palestinian rights
© Joe Catron
Members and supporters of the Stop the JNF Campaign, part of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, rallied outside the New York Hilton Midtown, before marching through nearby streets in Manhattan, to protest the 2016 national conference of the Jewish National Fund.
Last week the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), under pressure from Palestine solidarity activists, began an audit of the Jewish National Fund.

The audit is significant. Beyond weakening the oldest Israel-focused charity in the country, it will put other Israeli charities in Canada on notice and reflects the growth of Palestine solidarity activism.

Fulfilling the time-consuming audit will be a bureaucratic headache for a group that has eleven offices across Canada and has raised $100 million over the past five years. Already, the credibility of the second most powerful Israel-oriented charity in Canada has taken a hit with the CBC exposé headlined "Canadian charity used donations to fund projects linked to Israeli military" and related stories. If the CRA revokes the JNF's charitable status it would be devastating for fundraising and deter politicians/celebrities from attending their events.


Comment: In other words, shining a light on JNF would be a big win for the Palestinian cause.


Footprints

Defense policy and military affairs: When reality doesn't fit the model, the blob strikes back

Sheep helmet
© Unknown
Thank you for the war. We needed one.
Our semester starts today, with the first class in my course 'Defence Policy and Military Affairs'. Early on, we'll look at models of how a rational defence policy would in theory be made, and then we'll go through each step of the policy process in more detail. Along the way, students (if they're paying attention) should become aware that reality doesn't fit the ideal model. Both process and outcomes can be decidedly odd.

As evidence, let's take a look at some of the defence policy stories which popped up on my radar over the Christmas holidays.

The most recent, dating from yesterday, could be well titled 'The Blob Strikes Back' - the 'Blob' being a derogatory term for the American security establishment, an amorphous being which defies easy definition and is decidedly hard to pin down, but which exerts enormous power and which seems to be impervious to outside realities, continuing along its chosen path regardless of all the disasters it confronts, and causes, along the way. As alert readers will be aware, just before Christmas, US president Donald Trump announced that he intended to withdraw American troops from Syria. The reaction of the Blob was total outrage.

Comment: When the desire for war outranks the reasons to have one...